Real world beacons indicating virtual locations

ABSTRACT

Techniques are described for facilitating the coordination of audio video (AV) production using multiple actors in respective locations that are remote from each other, such that an integrated AV product can be generated by coordinating the activities of multiple remote actors in concert with one another. A director can indicate in the virtual world a desired location of a stage prop, and a beacon may then be transmitted toward a real world location corresponding to the desired location to aid in placement of the prop.

FIELD

The application relates generally to technically inventive, non-routinesolutions that are necessarily rooted in computer technology and thatproduce concrete technical improvements. In particular, the presentapplication relates to techniques for enabling collaborative remoteacting in multiple locations.

BACKGROUND

Owing to health and cost concerns, people increasingly collaboratetogether from remote locations. As understood herein, collaborativemovie and computer simulation (e.g., computer game) generation usingremote actors can pose unique coordination problems because a directormust direct multiple actors each potentially in his or her own studio orsound stage in making movies and for computer simulation-relatedactivities such as motion capture (MoCap). For example, challenges existin providing remote actors physical references on their individualstages or studios in a manner that action is coordinated. Presentprinciples provide techniques for addressing some of these coordinationchallenges.

SUMMARY

Present principles thus provide an apparatus that includes at least oneprocessor programmed with instructions to identify in virtual reality(VR) space a location a video prop is desired to be located and totransmit in real world (RW) space at least one beacon toward a RWlocation corresponding to the location in VR space at which the videoprop is to be located.

In some example implementations, the beacon may include a visiblebeacon, such as a laser beam. Additionally or alternatively, the beaconmay include an audible sound and/or a screen display on a handset.

Still further, if desired the instructions may be executable to identifylocation of the prop in the RW over time.

Also, in some example embodiments the instructions may be executable totransmit the beacon at least in part based on the location of the propin the RW.

In another aspect, a device includes at least one computer storage thatis not a transitory signal. The computer storage includes instructionsexecutable by at least one processor to receive indication in virtualreality (VR) space of a virtual location and to transmit a beacon in thereal world (RW) indicating the virtual location.

In still another aspect, a computer-implemented method includesindicating a location in virtual space at which an object is desired tobe located and presenting a beacon in the real world (RW) directingtoward a RW location corresponding to the virtual location.

The details of the present application, both as to its structure andoperation, can best be understood in reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and inwhich:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system consistent with presentprinciples;

FIG. 2 illustrates a director pointing to a virtual reality (VR) displayto control activity within a film set;

FIG. 3 illustrates a beacon used to illuminate the film set according todirector commands;

FIG. 4 illustrates example logic in example flow chart format consistentwith present principles;

FIG. 5 illustrates a screen shot of an example screen display;

FIG. 6 is a screen shot of an example director display;

FIG. 7 is a screen shot of an example stagehand screen display;

FIG. 8 illustrates additional example logic in example flow chart formatconsistent with present principles;

FIG. 9 is yet another screen shot of an example director display; and

FIG. 10 illustrates an example settings graphical user interface (GUI)presentable on a display consistent with present principles.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Now referring to FIG. 1 , this disclosure relates generally to computerecosystems including aspects of computer networks that may includeconsumer electronics (CE) devices. A system herein may include serverand client components, connected over a network such that data may beexchanged between the client and server components. The clientcomponents may include one or more computing devices including portabletelevisions (e.g. smart TVs, Internet-enabled TVs), portable computerssuch as laptops and tablet computers, and other mobile devices includingsmart phones and additional examples discussed below. These clientdevices may operate with a variety of operating environments. Forexample, some of the client computers may employ, as examples, operatingsystems from Microsoft, or a Unix operating system, or operating systemsproduced by Apple Computer or Google. These operating environments maybe used to execute one or more browsing programs, such as a browser madeby Microsoft or Google or Mozilla or other browser program that canaccess websites hosted by the Internet servers discussed below.

Servers and/or gateways may include one or more processors executinginstructions that configure the servers to receive and transmit dataover a network such as the Internet. Or, a client and server can beconnected over a local intranet or a virtual private network. A serveror controller may be instantiated by a game console such as a SonyPlayStation®, a personal computer, etc.

Information may be exchanged over a network between the clients andservers. To this end and for security, servers and/or clients caninclude firewalls, load balancers, temporary storages, and proxies, andother network infrastructure for reliability and security.

As used herein, instructions refer to computer-implemented steps forprocessing information in the system. Instructions can be implemented insoftware, firmware or hardware and include any type of programmed stepundertaken by components of the system.

A processor may be a general-purpose single- or multi-chip processorthat can execute logic by means of various lines such as address lines,data lines, and control lines and registers and shift registers.

Software modules described by way of the flow charts and user interfacesherein can include various sub-routines, procedures, etc. Withoutlimiting the disclosure, logic stated to be executed by a particularmodule can be redistributed to other software modules and/or combinedtogether in a single module and/or made available in a shareablelibrary. While flow chart format may be used, it is to be understoodthat software may be implemented as a state machine or other logicalmethod.

Present principles described herein can be implemented as hardware,software, firmware, or combinations thereof; hence, illustrativecomponents, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are set forth in termsof their functionality.

Further to what has been alluded to above, logical blocks, modules, andcircuits described below can be implemented or performed with ageneral-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device suchas an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A processorcan be implemented by a controller or state machine or a combination ofcomputing devices.

The functions and methods described below, when implemented in software,can be written in an appropriate language such as but not limited to C#or C++, and can be stored on or transmitted through a computer-readablestorage medium such as a random access memory (RAM), read-only memory(ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM),compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storagesuch as digital versatile disc (DVD), magnetic disk storage or othermagnetic storage devices including removable thumb drives, etc. Aconnection may establish a computer-readable medium. Such connectionscan include, as examples, hard-wired cables including fiber optics andcoaxial wires and digital subscriber line (DSL) and twisted pair wires.

Components included in one embodiment can be used in other embodimentsin any appropriate combination. For example, any of the variouscomponents described herein and/or depicted in the Figures may becombined, interchanged or excluded from other embodiments.

“A system having at least one of A, B, and C” (likewise “a system havingat least one of A, B, or C” and “a system having at least one of A, B,C”) includes systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and Btogether, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and Ctogether, etc.

Now specifically referring to FIG. 1 , an example system 10 is shown,which may include one or more of the example devices mentioned above anddescribed further below in accordance with present principles. Note thatcomputerized devices described in the figures herein may include some orall of the components set forth for various devices in FIG. 1 .

The first of the example devices included in the system 10 is a consumerelectronics (CE) device configured as an example primary display device,and in the embodiment shown is an audio video display device (AVDD) 12such as but not limited to an Internet-enabled TV with a TV tuner(equivalently, set top box controlling a TV). The AVDD 12 may be anAndroid®-based system. The AVDD 12 alternatively may also be acomputerized Internet enabled (“smart”) telephone, a tablet computer, anotebook computer, a wearable computerized device such as e.g.computerized Internet-enabled watch, a computerized Internet-enabledbracelet, other computerized Internet-enabled devices, a computerizedInternet-enabled music player, computerized Internet-enabled headphones, a computerized Internet-enabled implantable device such as animplantable skin device, etc. Regardless, it is to be understood thatthe AVDD 12 and/or other computers described herein are configured toundertake present principles (e.g. communicate with other CE devicesusing the 5G wireless standard to undertake present principles, executethe logic described herein, and perform any other functions and/oroperations described herein).

Accordingly, to undertake such principles the AVDD 12 can be establishedby some or all of the components shown in FIG. 1 . For example, the AVDD12 can include one or more displays 14 that may be implemented by a highdefinition or ultra-high definition “4K” or higher flat screen and thatmay or may not be touch-enabled for receiving user input signals viatouches on the display. The AVDD 12 may also include one or morespeakers 16 for outputting audio in accordance with present principles,and at least one additional input device 18 such as e.g. an audioreceiver/microphone for e.g. entering audible commands to the AVDD 12 tocontrol the AVDD 12. The example AVDD 12 may further include one or morenetwork interfaces 20 for communication over at least one network 22such as the Internet, a wireless 5G network, other wide area network(WAN), a local area network (LAN), a personal area network (PAN), etc.under control of one or more processors 24. Thus, the interface 20 maybe, without limitation, a Wi-Fi transceiver, which is an example of awireless computer network interface, such as but not limited to a meshnetwork transceiver. The interface 20 may be, without limitation aBluetooth transceiver, Zigbee transceiver, IrDA transceiver, WirelessUSB transceiver, wired USB, wired LAN, Powerline or MoCA. It is to beunderstood that the processor 24 controls the AVDD 12 to undertakepresent principles, including the other elements of the AVDD 12described herein such as e.g. controlling the display 14 to presentimages thereon and receiving input therefrom. Furthermore, note thenetwork interface 20 may be, e.g., a wired or wireless modem or router,or other appropriate interface such as, e.g., a wireless telephonytransceiver, or Wi-Fi transceiver as mentioned above, etc.

In addition to the foregoing, the AVDD 12 may also include one or moreinput ports 26 such as, e.g., a high definition multimedia interface(HDMI) port or a USB port to physically connect (e.g. using a wiredconnection) to another CE device and/or a headphone port to connectheadphones to the AVDD 12 for presentation of audio from the AVDD 12 toa user through the headphones. For example, the input port 26 may beconnected via wire or wirelessly to a cable or satellite source 26 a ofaudio video content. Thus, the source 26 a may be, e.g., a separate orintegrated set top box, or a satellite receiver. Or, the source 26 a maybe a game console or disk player.

The AVDD 12 may further include one or more computer memories 28 such asdisk-based or solid-state storage that are not transitory signals, insome cases embodied in the chassis of the AVDD as standalone devices oras a personal video recording device (PVR) or video disk player eitherinternal or external to the chassis of the AVDD for playing back AVprograms or as removable memory media. Also, in some embodiments, theAVDD 12 can include a position or location receiver such as but notlimited to a cellphone receiver, GPS receiver and/or altimeter 30 thatis configured to e.g. receive geographic position information from atleast one satellite or cellphone tower and provide the information tothe processor 24 and/or determine an altitude at which the AVDD 12 isdisposed in conjunction with the processor 24. However, it is to beunderstood that that another suitable position receiver other than acellphone receiver, GPS receiver and/or altimeter may be used inaccordance with present principles to e.g. determine the location of theAVDD 12 in e.g. all three dimensions.

Continuing the description of the AVDD 12, in some embodiments the AVDD12 may include one or more cameras 32 that may be, e.g., a thermalimaging camera, a digital camera such as a webcam, and/or a cameraintegrated into the AVDD 12 and controllable by the processor 24 togather pictures/images and/or video in accordance with presentprinciples. Also included on the AVDD 12 may be a Bluetooth transceiver34 and other Near Field Communication (NFC) element 36 for communicationwith other devices using Bluetooth and/or NFC technology, respectively.An example NFC element can be a radio frequency identification (RFID)element.

Further still, the AVDD 12 may include one or more auxiliary sensors 38(e.g., a motion sensor such as an accelerometer, gyroscope, cyclometer,or a magnetic sensor, an infrared (IR) sensor for receiving IR commandsfrom a remote control, an optical sensor, a speed and/or cadence sensor,a gesture sensor (e.g. for sensing gesture command), etc.) providinginput to the processor 24. The AVDD 12 may include an over-the-air TVbroadcast port 40 for receiving OTA TV broadcasts providing input to theprocessor 24. In addition to the foregoing, it is noted that the AVDD 12may also include an infrared (IR) transmitter and/or IR receiver and/orIR transceiver 42 such as an IR data association (IRDA) device. Abattery (not shown) may be provided for powering the AVDD 12.

Still further, in some embodiments the AVDD 12 may include a graphicsprocessing unit (GPU) 44 and/or a field-programmable gate array (FPGA)46. The GPU and/or FPGA may be utilized by the AVDD 12 for, e.g.,artificial intelligence processing such as training neural networks andperforming the operations (e.g., inferences) of neural networks inaccordance with present principles. However, note that the processor 24may also be used for artificial intelligence processing such as wherethe processor 24 might be a central processing unit (CPU).

Still referring to FIG. 1 , in addition to the AVDD 12, the system 10may include one or more other computer device types that may includesome or all of the components shown for the AVDD 12. In one example, afirst device 48 and a second device 50 are shown and may include similarcomponents as some or all of the components of the AVDD 12. Fewer orgreater devices may be used than shown.

The system 10 also may include one or more servers 52. A server 52 mayinclude at least one server processor 54, at least one computer memory56 such as disk-based or solid state storage, and at least one networkinterface 58 that, under control of the server processor 54, allows forcommunication with the other devices of FIG. 1 over the network 22, andindeed may facilitate communication between servers, controllers, andclient devices in accordance with present principles. Note that thenetwork interface 58 may be, e.g., a wired or wireless modem or router,Wi-Fi transceiver, or other appropriate interface such as, e.g., awireless telephony transceiver.

Accordingly, in some embodiments the server 52 may be an Internet serverand may include and perform “cloud” functions such that the devices ofthe system 10 may access a “cloud” environment via the server 52 inexample embodiments. Or, the server 52 may be implemented by a gameconsole or other computer in the same room as the other devices shown inFIG. 1 or nearby.

The devices described below may incorporate some or all of the elementsdescribed above.

Now in reference to FIG. 2 , it illustrates a director 200 pointing to avirtual reality (VR) display 202 to control activity within a film setand/or across multiple film sets where some actors might beremotely-located. The VR display 202 may be a television mounted on awall, a computer monitor, or even the heads up display of a VR headsetbeing worn by the director 200.

Consistent with present principles, images of a hand and arm 204 of thedirector 200 may be gathered by one or more cameras showing the director200 within their field of view, including possibly one or more outwardfacing cameras on the VR headset itself if one is being worn by thedirector 200. Computer vision and/or gesture recognition may then beexecuted using the images from the camera(s) to track and identify thedirector 200 as performing a gesture by pointing with an index finger onthe director's right hand as shown.

As shown in FIG. 2 , at a first time T1, the director 200 points withthe index finger at a real world (RW) video prop 206 as represented inVR space presented on the VR display 202 to indicate to the VR systemthat the director 200 is providing input directed to the prop 206. Thendirector 200 may then progressively move his right arm from left toright as shown while pointing with the index finger (or in anotherdirection as desired) until at a later time T2, the director's arm stopsmoving when pointing toward a desired virtual location in VR space forthe prop 206. The virtual location may correspond to a RW location onthe set at which the prop 206 should be placed in the RW for interactionwith one or more actors also on the set to translate RW actor actionswith respect to the prop 206 into virtual space character actions. Insome examples, verbal cues from the director 200 may also be used forprop movement, such as “move this prop over here” as the director 200points to the desired virtual location for the prop.

Before moving on to the description of other figures, note that the RW,tangible prop 206 may be a number of things, including a real worldinanimate stage object such as a table, a chair, etc. The prop 206 mightalso be a “dummy” weapon such as a fake gun or fake sword. The prop 206might also be a cutout of a person, a sculpture representing ageographic feature, or any element corresponding in shape and possiblysize to a virtual object in the VR space (e.g., a video game object),etc.

FIG. 3 illustrates a beacon device 300 being used to illuminate a filmset according to director commands consistent with present principles.The beacon device 300 may include hardware to transmit or present avisible beacon such as a laser beam 302. The laser beam 302 mayintersect a point or location 304 on a surface toward which the laserbeam 302 is directed, for example.

The laser beam 302 may be directed based on director commands and usingmotors or other elements within the device 300 in order to transmit thelaser light in the RW toward a RW location at which a RW prop is to beplaced to correspond to a VR location at which the director desires theprop 306 to be shown in VR space. As also shown in FIG. 3 , the prop 306may include a position sensor 308 such as a GPS transceiver or othersuitable position senor for position tracking over time. The sensor 308might also include, for example, a Wi-Fi or other wireless signaltransceiver that may be used to triangulate and track the location ofthe prop 306 in all three dimensions over time based on the knownlocations of other devices communicating with the transceiver.

A beeper 310 may also be included on or attached to the prop 306 and maybe, for example, a speaker configured to emit audible “beeps”, otheraudible sounds, or even audible computerized verbal instructionsindicating desired prop placement. A separate handset tracking itsposition with respect to the prop 306 may also be used to emit the beepsor other sounds if, for example, a stage hand carries the handsetseparately while also initially placing or moving the prop 306. Butregardless, the frequency and/or volume at which the beeps are presentedmay for example progressively and incrementally increase as the prop 306is tracked over time as moving toward the RW location indicated by thedirector at which the RW prop 306 is to be placed. Conversely, thefrequency and/or volume at which the beeps are presented mayprogressively and incrementally decrease as the prop 306 is tracked overtime as moving away from the RW location indicated by the director atwhich the RW prop 306 is to be placed. Then when the prop 306 iseventually located at the desired RW location, a constant noise of thesame pitch as the beep may be produced by the beeper 310, and/or a toneof a different pitch may be produced to indicate the prop 306 has beenlocated as the desired RW location.

Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments the beeper 310 mayfurther include a video display on which visual directional guidance maybe presented, such as in the form of three-dimensional (3D) arrows orother visual guidance. But whether audible or visual guidance ispresented at the beeper 310, it is to be understood that the guidancemay guide a stage hand or other person to initially place or to move theprop 306 toward a RW location so that the prop 306 is also presented inVR space at a desired VR location correlated to the RW location.

Further note that in addition to or in lieu of using the guidanceproduced by the beeper 310, the stage hand may also move the prop 306toward location 304 based on the stage hand visually identifying thelaser beam 302 as intersecting a surface establishing the location 304.

Now describing FIG. 4 , it shows example logic in example flow chartformat as may be executed by one or more devices alone or in combinationconsistent with present principles. For example, the logic of FIG. 4 maybe executed by a server or other device that coordinates recorded RWspace actions with VR space character actions to reflect the actions inVR space. The logic of FIG. 4 may also be executed by another devicethat communicates with the director's VR headset, the display 202, thebeacon 300, and/or beeper 310 to undertake present principles.

In any case, the logic may begin at block 400 where the device mayreceive a RW prop position signal indicating the current location of theprop, such as from a GPS transceiver or other position transceiver onthe prop. The logic may then proceed to block 402 where the device mayreceive the prop's position in VR space, e.g., as facilitated by a VRsimulation engine running at the device or elsewhere that correlates RWspace coordinates as captured by one or more cameras in the RW to VRspace coordinates.

After block 402 the logic may proceed to block 404. At block 404 thedevice may receive director movement of the prop in VR space, such asthe director virtually moving the prop's representation in VR spaceand/or by specifying via gestures or verbal cues where the prop's VRrepresentation should be located in VR space. Thereafter the logic mayproceed to block 406.

At block 406 the device may track the RW position of the prop whilestationary and/or moving across RW space. After block 406 the logic mayproceed to block 408. At block 408 the device may generate and/ortransmit one or both of audio and visual signals regarding where theprop should be located in RW space to correspond to a VR locationindicated by the director. For example, at block 408 the device maycontrol the device 300 to emit a laser as described above and/or controlthe beeper 310 to present audible and visual assistance as describedabove.

Continuing the detailed description in reference to FIG. 5 , itillustrates an example screen shot 500 of an example screen display. Forexample, the screen display may be presented on the display of a handsetsuch as a dedicated prop device handset or even smartphone. The screenshot 500 may also be presented on the video display of the beeper 310described above in embodiments where the beeper 310 includes a videodisplay.

In any case, as shown in FIG. 5 a prop image 502 may be presented on thescreen display either using an actual image of the prop from a camera orusing a computer-generated representation of the prop. The screendisplay may also include a location indication 504 represented on thescreen display that corresponds to a RW stage location to which the propitself should be moved.

As also shown in FIG. 5 , an arrow 506 or other graphical indicator mayalso be presented as part of the screen display and be adjusted in realtime as the prop moves across RW space to indicate the location to whichthe prop should be moved with respect to the current location of theprop. Thus, the arrow 506 may be presented in 3D form on the screendisplay to point toward the indication 504 to lead the stage hand, ashe/she moves the prop, from a current RW location of the prop correlatedto the image 502 to a RW location of the director's desired propposition as correlated to the indication 504.

FIGS. 6-9 further illustrate enabling a director to command movement ofreal world props (real world inanimate stage objects such as tables,chairs, etc.) in one or more studios or stages consistent with presentprinciples. In this example, assume a real world prop is tracked byimaging the prop using a camera in the studio or by receiving, e.g.,position information of the prop from a location receiver such as aglobal positioning satellite (GPS) receiver on the prop.

FIG. 6 illustrates an image 600 of a real world prop in virtual space ona director computer 604. The director operating the director computer604 can move the image 600 using voice commands and/or a selectorelement 602 presented on the display of the computer 604 to cause acommand to be transmitted to a stagehand device 700 shown in FIG. 7 andlocated at the real location at which the prop corresponding to theimage 600 is located. The stagehand device 700 may be a portablecomputer such as a cell phone or a tablet or other appropriate devicethat may include, e.g., an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display.

The command includes location information of the prop from whence animage 702 of the prop can be placed in virtual space and presented onthe stagehand device 700. The director command is graphically and/ortextually and/or audibly presented on the stagehand display as indicatedat 704 to indicate the desired new location of the prop at 706. As thereal world prop is moved, it is tracked as discussed herein and itslocation in virtual space presented on both the director computer 604and stagehand device 700, so that both the director and stagehand canmonitor movement in virtual space of the prop until it is located at thedesired location 706.

FIG. 8 further reflects the above discussion. At block 800, thestagehand device 700 receives the director command from the directorcomputer 604. Moving to block 802, the image of the prop is presented onthe stagehand display, audibly and/or visibly. As the prop is moved, itsreal world location is tracked and converted to virtual space at block804, with feedback of the movement of the prop being sent to thedirector computer 604 and updated on the stagehand device 700 at block806, such as by updating the virtual location of the images 600, 702 ofthe prop on the respective displays.

FIG. 9 illustrates that the director may elect to give feedback to thestagehand to position the prop in the real world to get to thedirector's desired location. The director computer 604 may present animage 900 of the prop at an initial location, an image 902 of the propin its current location as it is being moved, and an image 904 of theprop in the desired location, with an input element 906 being providedto allow the director to input and transmit a command for the stagehandto continue moving the prop in an indicated direction, e.g., using up,down, left, and right commands corresponding to the various arrowsestablishing the element 906.

Now describing FIG. 10 , it shows an example settings graphical userinterface (GUI) 1000 that may be presented on a display of a device orsystem configured to operate consistent with present principles. Forexample, the GUI 1000 may be presented on the display of the directorcomputer 604, a director's headset or connected laptop computer, aremotely-located server, or another device that controls beacon useconsistent with present principles. Note that each option to bediscussed below may be selected by directing touch or cursor input tothe checkbox adjacent to the respective option.

As shown in FIG. 10 , the GUI 1000 may include a first option 1002 thatmay be selectable to set or enable a VR device or system to undertakepresent principles. For example, the option 1002 may be selected to setor configure one or more device(s) to execute the logic of FIGS. 4and/or 8 to present or transmit beacons as disclosed herein as well asto undertake other functions described above. FIG. 10 also shows thatthe GUI 1000 may include a second option 1004 that may be selectable toset or enable the device or system to specifically use audible beaconsconsistent with present principles. The GUI 1000 may further include athird option 1006 that may be selectable to set or enable the device orsystem to specifically use visual beacons consistent with presentprinciples, such as lasers and screen displays as described herein.

Thus, it may be appreciated based on the description of the foregoingfigures that VR directing and/or remote filming may be facilitated sothat the director can see the virtual scene itself from the perspectiveof the director or a game player within the virtual scene and get aspatial sense of the actors in context. In some examples, in addition toor in lieu of the director using a VR headset to view the VR scene andspecify prop placement/location, the director may also use a RW rig withremote controllers to “hold” a corresponding virtual rig in virtualspace and see the corresponding perspective in the VR scene in order tomove the VR rig around and hence move the VR first-person perspective ofthe director around in the virtual space. In some examples, the directorwould even “pick up” the VR rig and put it where he/she wants it, andthen let it go so that the VR perspective represented to the director isshown as the perspective of the now-stationary virtual camera on the VRrig while at the designated location.

Either way, upon seeing the perspective of the virtual camera within theVR scene, the director may then communicate with stage hands and otherassistants at various remotely-located stages for which RW actionsperformed at the stages are to be merged into a single VR scene in orderto give instructions for prop placement. In some examples, an artificialneural network (ANN) with an input layer, output layer, and one or morehidden layers in between may be encoded to listen for the director'scommands and present directional assistance to the stage hands based onthat. Thus, voice commands, RW prop locations, and corresponding VRlocations for props may be provided as input to the ANN during trainingto train the ANN to output directional assistance in the forms ofaudible beeps, lasers, screen displays, etc. as disclosed herein.

Thus, the present disclosure may assist in the director's ability torecord performances not just of various actors helping to create the VRscene but to also record or present the director's perspective and helpenhance the director's ability to interact with virtual objectscorresponding in VR space to RW props in RW space. The generated data,interactions, etc. may then be made available for post-processing tomerge the recorded RW scenes from the remotely-located stages into asingle VR scene.

In this vein, a director's virtual camera (e.g., the perspective of thedirector within the VR scene) can be changed by moving a director's RWcamera or by switching to different RW cameras so that the directorwhile inside the VR scene can see the virtual “set” (e.g., the VR sceneitself), see the locations of the actors within the VR scenes as theactors move around virtually in the scene based on their tracked RWmovement, and even see the locations of props as tracked by the VRsystem so that the director would know when the prop is at thedirector's desired virtual location.

This may be accomplished by the director, while immersed in the VRscene, clicking or pointing using his/her RW arms to where he/she wantsthe prop located in the VR scene. The director's assistant on one of theRW, physical sets could then have an audio and/or visual guide to leadthem to the RW stage location being pointed at that corresponds to thelocation within the VR scene to help the assistant as the assistant getscloser to the correct RW coordinates matching the VR coordinates of theprop location desired by the director, possibly while compensating foran XYZ dimensional offset between the RW space and corresponding VRspace. Thus, feedback may be given to the assistant to position, on theRW stage, the prop at the director's desired position.

Thus, in some examples to establish a new static position for a prop,the feedback may be in the form of a handset with a display screenindicating where to move the RW prop to place it where the directorwants it. The assistant may also use an audio earpiece or another typeof speaker to navigate the prop across RW space to the director'sdesired position.

Additionally or alternatively, a drone or other device may in someexamples autonomously navigate itself in the RW and through the air to adesired prop location. The assistant may then take the prop itself tothe location of the drone at the desired prop location and replace thedrone with the prop at the location.

Thus, a beacon consistent with present principles may take various formsto tell the assistant (or other person) where coordinates for thedirector's desired VR location for the prop are located in thecorresponding real space of the set. The director may thus be immersedin and looking at a VR scene (e.g., using a VR headset) and saysomething like “I think this rock needs to be over here”. The system mayuse a digital assistant, natural language understanding, and/or voicerecognition technology to identify the director's utterance and identifythat it was uttered while the director also clicked on, pointed to, orotherwise selected the rock (e.g., select it in virtual space using a VRcontroller). Based on those two inputs, the VR system may commandanother device like a handset that might be sitting offset to startbuzzing using a vibrator to indicate the director has establishedcoordinates at which the rock should be placed. The assistant may thennotice this, pick up the handset, and use the arrows or other guides itpresents to pick up the RW rock itself and navigate it to the RW placeon the set or stage that corresponds to the coordinates established bythe director.

If the rock's position is still not quite where the director wants it,the director could then say “move to left”, “move to the right”, etc.and the additional cues may be provided to the handset to further guidethe assistant. Or again the director might click or select the virtualspace location corresponding to the RW location where he/she wants therock (or other prop) placed.

It will be appreciated that whilst present principals have beendescribed with reference to some example embodiments, these are notintended to be limiting, and that various alternative arrangements maybe used to implement the subject matter claimed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: at least one processorprogrammed with instructions to: identify in virtual reality (VR) spacea location a video prop is desired to be located; and transmit in realworld (RW) space at least one beacon toward a RW location correspondingto the location in VR space at which the video prop is to be located tointersect the RW location, wherein the beacon comprises a visible beaconor an audible beacon or both a visible beacon and an audible beacon. 2.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the beacon comprises a laser beam. 3.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions are executable to:identify location of the prop in the RW over time.
 4. The apparatus ofclaim 3, wherein the instructions are executable to: transmit the beaconat least in part based on the location of the prop in the RW.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the beacon comprises an audible sound. 6.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the beacon comprises a screen displayon a handset.
 7. A device comprising: at least one computer storage thatis not a transitory signal and that comprises instructions executable byat least one processor to: receive indication in virtual reality (VR)space of a virtual location; and transmit a visible or audible beacontoward a real world (RW) location corresponding to the virtual location.8. The device of claim 7, wherein the virtual location is a desiredlocation of a RW prop.
 9. The device of claim 7, wherein the visiblebeacon comprises a laser beam.
 10. The device of claim 7, wherein theinstructions are executable to: identify location of the prop in the RWover time.
 11. The device of claim 10, wherein the instructions areexecutable to: transmit the beacon at least in part based on thelocation of the prop in the RW.
 12. The device of claim 7, wherein thebeacon comprises an audible sound.
 13. The device of claim 7, whereinthe beacon comprises a screen display on a handset.
 14. Acomputer-implemented method comprising: indicating a location in virtualspace at which an object is desired to be located; and directing abeacon in the real world (RW) toward a RW location corresponding to thevirtual location, the beacon comprising an audio sound or a visiblebeacon.
 15. The method of claim 14, comprising: identify location of theobject in the RW over time.
 16. The method of claim 14, comprising:presenting the beacon at least in part based on the location of theobject in the RW.
 17. The method of claim 14, wherein the beaconcomprises an audible sound.